NITI Aayog Launches Online Dispute Resolution Handbook That Helps To Resolve Disputes Outside Of Courts

NITI Aayog has launched the first-of-its-kind Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) handbook on Saturday (10 April).

ODR is the settlement of disputes through an online mode of communication or interaction between the disputed parties.

The new and unique ODR handbook launched in India with a clear vision that disputes can be resolved seamlessly, from anywhere, by anybody, at a fraction of the cost and time incurred by traditional mechanisms.

It is an invitation to business leaders to embrace ODR in the country and Indian companies have already begun to adopt it at a record pace.

This handbook was launched in association with Agami and Omidyar Network India, while ICICI Bank, Ashoka Innovators for the Public, Trilegal, Dalberg, Dvara and National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) supported this new initiative.

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said during the launch, “Online Dispute Resolution in India is at a pivotal cusp. A collaborative mechanism provides this potential to resolve a substantial percentage of disputes at the site of their occurrence without burdening the courts.”

According to a release by NITI Aayog, this initiative has highlighted the need for ODR and such models which businesses can adopt.

Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, Supreme Court of India has delivered the opening address during the launch of the handbook.

He said, “I commend all the organizations and individuals who were involved in drafting this handbook. I am certain that this will become a watershed document in revolutionizing dispute resolution in India.”

During the launch, CEO Kant said the hope is that the NITI Aayog’s report in ODR, chaired by Justice A K Sikri, a former judge of the Supreme Court of India, “enables ODR in a sustainable framework now and for it to eventually become an option of first recourse for several categories of claims in a dynamic fashion”.

Sumit Gupta, Head Collections, Udaan, TATA Sons Vice President Poornima Sampath were also present during the launch.

According to the website disputeresolution.online, ODR forces to reimagine dispute resolution from justice administered in courts to a service that can be availed of anywhere.

It is the resolution of disputes outside courts, specifically of small, as well as medium-value cases, using digital ways and techniques of alternate dispute resolution, including negotiation, arbitration and mediation.

As per the NITI Aayog, while courts are adopting digital techniques through the efforts of the judiciary, more effective, scalable and collaborative mechanisms of containment and resolution become extremely required.

“ODR can help resolve disputes efficiently and affordably,” the statement added.